Dual primary-secondary package

ABSTRACT

The present application provides a dual primary-secondary package. The dual primary-secondary package includes a first container, a second container, a first label attached to the first container and the second container, and a second label attached to the first container and the second container. Rotating the first container and the second container causes the first label to roll off of the second container and attach fully to the first container and the second label to roll off of the first container and attach fully to the second container.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application and the resultant patent relate generally topackaging systems and more particularly relate to a dualprimary-secondary package using a pair of pressure sensitive labels asboth the primary labeling and the secondary packaging for a pair of likeor unique containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pressure sensitive labels and the like have long been used on any numberof product containers. Such labels may contain product trademarks, usageinformation, ingredient information, decorations, promotions, and manyother types of product related indicia and the like. Many types ofproducts also may be combined in “twin packs”, “value packs”, and likewhere two or more product are packaged together for sale. The productpairs may be combined with secondary packaging such as a polyolefinshrink sleeve, PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol) or PVC(Polyvinyl Chloride) shrink films, and the like. The secondary packagingalso may contain product indicia and other types of information thereon.Although this type of secondary packaging is popular and effective inpromoting the products therein, any type of secondary packaging involvesadditional material costs, additional production time, and additionalweight during transport.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application and the resultant patent thus provide a dualprimary-secondary package. The dual primary-secondary package includes afirst container, a second container, a first label attached to the firstcontainer and the second container, and a second label attached to thefirst container and the second container. Rotating the first containerand the second container causes the first label to roll off of thesecond container and attach fully to the first container and the secondlabel to roll off of the first container and attach fully to the secondcontainer.

The present application and the resultant patent further provide amethod of using a dual primary-secondary package. The method may includethe steps of attaching a first end of a first label to a firstcontainer, attaching a second end of the first label to a secondcontainer, attaching a first end of a second label to the firstcontainer, attaching a second end of the second label to the secondcontainer, and rotating the first container and the second containersuch that the first label attaches fully to the first container and thesecond label attaches fully to the second container.

The present application and the resultant patent further provide acombined dual primary-secondary package system. The combined dualprimary-secondary package system may include a number of dualprimary-secondary packages with each having a first container, a secondcontainer, a first label attached to the first container and the secondcontainer, and a second label attached to the first container and thesecond container. Each of the dual primary-secondary packages isattached to a retainer such that a first of the dual primary-secondarypackages extends along a long direction of the retainer and a second ofthe dual primary-secondary packages extends along a short direction ofthe retainer. Any number of the dual primary-secondary packages may beused herein.

These and other features and improvements of the present application andthe resultant patent will become apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art upon review of the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the several drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional two product twin packcombined with secondary packaging.

FIG. 2 is a prospective view of a dual primary-secondary package as maybe described herein.

FIG. 3 is a side plan view of the dual primary-secondary package of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the assembly of the dualprimary-secondary package of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the separation of the twocontainers in the dual primary-secondary package of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a combined dual primary-secondarypackage system as may be described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to likeelements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram ofa conventional two product twin pack 10 combined with a secondarypackaging layer 15. Specifically, the twin pack 10 has two containers, afirst container 20 and a second container 25 connected by the secondarypackaging layer 15. The containers 20, 25 may be any type ofconventional bottle, can, box, pouch, or other type of enclosure in anysuitable size, shape, or configuration. The containers 20, 25 may bemade out of metal, glass, thermoplastics, laminates, and the like. Thecontainers 20, 25 may hold any type of product therein. Each container20, 25 may have a primary label 30 with product indicia 35 thereon. Theproduct indicia 35 may include any type of product information,promotion, graphics, and the like. The secondary packaging layer 15 alsomay have the same or different product indicia 35 thereon. As describedabove, the secondary packaging layer 15 may be a polyolefin shrinksleeve, PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol) or PVC (PolyvinylChloride) shrink films, and the like. The twin pack 10 may be purchasedby a consumer with the individual containers 20, 25 being accessible byremoving the secondary packaging layer 15.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example of a dual primary-secondary package 100 asmay be described herein. The dual primary-secondary package 100 includesthe first container 20 and the second container 25 in a side by sideconfiguration. As described above, although the containers 20, 25 areshown herein as cans, the containers 20, 25 may have any suitable size,shape, or configuration and may include cans, bottles, boxes, pouches,and the like.

The dual primary-secondary package 100 includes a pair of labels, afirst label 110 and a second label 120. The labels 110, 120 may be madeout of any type of substrate material such as paper, polymers, metallic,combinations thereof, and the like. The labels 110, 120 may be pressuresensitive labels 130 with a pre-applied adhesive. Any type ofconventional adhesive may be used herein. The labels 110, 120 may haveany suitable size, shape, or configuration. The labels 110, 120 may haveany type of indicia 35 thereon. The labels 110, 120 may be largelyidentically or individually intended for one container 20, 25 or theother.

A first label first end 140 may be attached to the first container 20while a first label second end 150 may be attached to the secondcontainer 25. A first label middle portion 160 may remain unattachedtherebetween and may or may not contain an adhesive. Likewise, a secondlabel first end 170 may be attached to the first container 20 while asecond label second end 180 may be attached to the second container 25.A second label middle portion 190 may remain unattached therebetween andmay or may not contain an adhesive. About 20 percent to about 45 percentof the length of each label 110, 120 may be attached to the containers20, 25 at each end 140, 150, 170, 180 with about 25 percent to about 40percent preferred. The remaining percentage of the length of each label110, 120 may be in the unattached middle portions 160, 190. Otherpercentages and lengths may be used herein. Each container 20, 25 neednot receive the same percentage of the label length as the other. Afirst gap 200 may extend between the first label first end 140 and thesecond label first end 170 on the first container 20 while a second gap210 may extend between the first label second end 150 and the secondlabel second end 180 on the second container 25. The width of the gaps200, 210 may vary. Other components and other configurations may be usedherein.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the labeling processthat may be used herein. The containers 20, 25 may extend along aconveyor 220 or other type of movement device. The first label first end140 may be attached to the first container 20 while the first labelsecond end 150 is attached to the second container 25 in a firstattachment direction 230. Likewise, the second label second end 180 maybe attached to the second container 25 while the second label first end170 is attached to the first container 20 in a second attachmentdirection 240. Conventional labeling equipment may be used herein. Othertypes of attachment processes may be used herein. The dualprimary-secondary package 100 is thus complete and ready for packing,shipment, and sale to a consumer and the like.

When a consumer desires to access one of the containers 20, 25, the dualprimary-secondary package 100 may be separated as shown in the exampleof FIG. 5. A consumer may position the dual primary-secondary package100 between his or her hands and apply opposite direction slidingmotions to each long side of the dual primary-secondary package 100.Specifically a first sliding motion 250 to one side of the dualprimary-secondary package 100 and an opposite second sliding motion 260to the other side. These opposed sliding motions 250, 260 cause thecontainers 20, 25 to rotate such that the first label second end 150 ispulled of the second container 25 and attaches fully to the firstcontainer 20 while the second label first end 170 is pulled off of thefirst container 20 and attaches fully to the second container 25. Eachcontainer 20, 25 is now separate and fully labeled. Separation also mayoccur by twisting the top of the containers 20, 25 in the samerotational force.

The dual primary-secondary package 100 thus provides dual packs or valuepacks of the containers 20, 25 without the need, expense, and weight ofconventional secondary packaging. The dual primary-secondary package 100provides for the safe transport and retail display of the containers 20,25 while providing easy separation by the consumer. Moreover, the labels110, 120 may be somewhat smaller as compared to conventional labelsgiven the application process, thus providing a further cost savings.Although the dual primary-secondary package 100 has been discussed as areplacement for a primary label or the secondary packaging, the dualprimary-secondary package 100 could be used in combination with such.

A number of the dual primary-secondary packages 100 may be usedtogether. For example, in a conventional six pack of containers joinedtogether by a common retainer, it is not uncommon for the individualcontainers to rotate such that the package as a whole is unfaced, i.e.,the primary indicia 35 of the containers is not facing forward towardsthe consumer. FIG. 6 shows a combined dual primary-secondary packagesystem 270 as may be claimed herein. The combined dual primary-secondarypackage system 270 in this example may use three of the dualprimary-secondary packages 100 assembled with a retainer 280. Any numberof the dual primary-secondary packages 100 may be used herein. Theretainer 280 may be of conventional design. The retainer 280 may have apair of long sides 290 and a pair of short sides 300. The combined dualprimary-secondary package system 270 may have two dual primary-secondarypackages 100 extending along the long sides 290 of the retainer 280 withthe indicia 35 facing outwardly and one dual primary-secondary package100 extending along one of the short sides 300 with the indicia 35facing outwardly. This configuration ensures that three of the foursides of the retainer 280 will display the full indicia 35 of the threedual primary-secondary packages 100. Other components and otherconfigurations may be used herein.

It should be apparent that the foregoing relates only to certainembodiments of the present application and the resultant patent.Numerous changes and modifications may be made herein by one of ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the general spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined by the following claims and the equivalentsthereof.

We claim:
 1. A dual primary-secondary package, comprising: a firstcontainer; a second container; a first label attached to the firstcontainer and the second container; and a second label attached to thefirst container and the second container; wherein rotating the firstcontainer and the second container causes the first label to roll off ofthe second container and attach fully to the first container and thesecond label to roll off of the first container and attach fully to thesecond container.
 2. The dual primary-secondary package of claim 1,wherein the first container and the second container comprise a can, abottle, a box, or a pouch.
 3. The dual primary-secondary package ofclaim 1, wherein the first label and the second label comprise apressure sensitive label.
 4. The dual primary-secondary package of claim1, wherein a first end of the first label is attached to the firstcontainer and a second end of the first label is attached to the secondcontainer.
 5. The dual primary-secondary package of claim 4, wherein afirst end of the second label is attached to the first container and asecond end of the second label is attached to the second container. 6.The dual primary-secondary package of claim 5, further comprising afirst gap between the attached first end of the first label and theattached first end of the second label.
 7. The dual primary-secondarypackage of claim 6, further comprising a second gap between the attachedsecond end of the first label and the attached second end of the secondlabel.
 8. The dual primary-secondary package of claim 4, wherein thefirst label comprises an unattached middle portion between the first endand the second end.
 9. The dual primary-secondary package of claim 5,wherein the second label comprises an unattached middle portion betweenthe first end and the second end.
 10. The dual primary-secondary packageof claim 1, wherein about 25 percent to about 40 percent of the firstlabel is attached to the first container.
 11. The dual primary-secondarypackage of claim 10, wherein about 25 percent to about 40 percent of thefirst label is attached to the second container.
 12. The dualprimary-secondary package of claim 1, wherein about 25 percent to about40 percent of the second label is attached to the first container. 13.The dual primary-secondary package of claim 12, wherein about 25 percentto about 40 percent of the second label is attached to the secondcontainer.
 14. The dual primary-secondary package of claim 1, whereinthe first label and the second label comprise indicia thereon.
 15. Amethod of using a dual primary-secondary package, comprising: attachinga first end of a first label to a first container; attaching a secondend of the first label to a second container; attaching a first end of asecond label to the first container; attaching a second end of thesecond label to the second container; and rotating the first containerand the second container such that the first label attaches fully to thefirst container and the second label attaches fully to the secondcontainer.
 16. A combined dual primary-secondary package system,comprising: a plurality of dual primary-secondary packages; theplurality of dual primary-secondary packages each comprising a firstcontainer, a second container, a first label attached to the firstcontainer and the second container, and a second label attached to thefirst container and the second container; the plurality of dualprimary-secondary packages attached to a retainer; wherein a first ofthe plurality of dual primary-secondary packages extends along a longdirection of the retainer and a second of the plurality of dualprimary-secondary packages extends along a short direction of theretainer.
 17. The combined dual primary-secondary package system ofclaim 16, wherein each of the plurality of dual primary-secondarypackages comprises indicia thereon.
 18. The combined dualprimary-secondary package system of claim 16, wherein the first labeland the second label comprise a pressure sensitive label.
 19. Thecombined dual primary-secondary package system of claim 16, wherein afirst end of the first label is attached to the first container and asecond end of the first label is attached to the second container and afirst end of the second label is attached to the first container and asecond end of the second label is attached to the second container. 20.The combined dual primary-secondary package system of claim 16, whereinabout 25 percent to about 40 percent of the first label is attached tothe first container and about 25 percent to about 40 percent of thefirst label is attached to the second container.